I throw these words to the wind. Feel free to grasp them or let them drift away.

Posts Tagged ‘Software’

I’ve been busy with other “necessary” things lately, such as painting the house between bouts of inclement weather. Poetry still whistles through the mind but is blown away before I’m able to capture it, so you don’t know what you’ve missed and now neither do I. I have found time occasionally to delve again into the book “The Ode Less Travelled” by Stephen Fry, a goldmine of information on writing rhyming poetry and a joy to read. My wife and I are celebrating our joint 138th birthday today and I’m writing this in the waiting period before the guests arrive. Downstairs there are chairs everywhere and the scattered collection of things I like to have at hand are stored away where I hope I can find them again later. The trees that I always can see from here on high through the window are continuously nodding back and forth and probably still wet from the last shower of yesterday. Some nearby have already given up on the summer and are shedding their leaves. Internationally, the only solution to increasing debt still appears to be increasing debt by “printing” even more money. I heard a rumour that the banks have recently discovered that it might be a good idea to do business with the little people again and raise the interest rates on savings. That might work. Years ago I was somewhat hooked on adventure game software, but after having my PC destroyed by horrid unannounced anti-copying elements I rather lost interest. Recently I purchased for a small fee the title “A stitch in Time” from lassiegames.com. It’s a sequel to a freely available game also available from their site. I can heartily recommend these to those interested in the “point and click” genre. They are gems from two dedicated part time enthusiasts.

The last few days I’ve been dogged by computer problems.
The old adage states “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” applies particularly to computers, as many of you will know. However, sometimes one feels one must update software because of warning messages telling of all the terrible things that might cross one’s path if one doesn’t, or because the new version offers new irresistibly exciting possibilities.

So I spent this morning adjusting the computer system after receiving an update from Microsoft for their .Net Framework which I need for various programs. Unpleasantly, without asking, it also installed an extension in my Firefox browser called NET Framework Assistant 1.1 which could not be removed or neutralized. It just stood there in the extension window looking back all gray and thumb-on-nose-and-finger-wiggling unwelcoming.

In fact, it arrived late yesterday afternoon and though I did then find some information on the Internet concerning the nature of the beast and that it did need taming, I had no time to investigate the matter further due to an appointment elsewhere. However, I did quickly read that Microsoft had now come up with a solution of its own in the form of an update. Apparently, until this came out the only way to remove the beast was to hack into the register and other sensitive parts of the Windows OS, which demands no small amount of bravery on the part of the average user.

Anyway, this morning after starting up the computer I was all primed to look into the matter further when, lo and behold, the small update icon appeared in the system tray.

This little shield has an exclamation mark in the center which I think should be a sword with blood on it 🙂

A little later a notice appeared that two updates were ready for download. As a long time user, I always take a good look at what Microsoft throws at me before allowing them to get there fingers dirty in my machine. One update was the millionth XP security update and the other was a program to alleviate the problem outlined above. I tentatively gave the order to download.

For some reason, which will no doubt be obvious to some, the installation of these updates often only occurs when I switch off the machine. As no further invitation came from Microsoft I did this but in the process noticed to my dismay that only one update was being installed.

After starting up the computer again I feverishly searched in the Event Viewer (right click your My Computer icon and select Manage) to see what had arrived (doubleclick on the msiInstaller entries) and it was the security update mentioned. Don’t ask me why the other had not been installed, this only leads to madness.

So after walking round a bit I sat down again before the monitor and went to the Microsoft download site to get the update myself, if possible, damn it! To my pleasant surprise I found the appropriate page rather quickly. There were two possible downloads, both with long names which said little about the contents. The only difference in their titles was that one contained the combination x86 and the other x64. Although a thought did surface telling me that x86 was the right choice, I decided to check just to be sure and so I dived into the Internet again. Luckily someone had asked the question before and it appeared that x86 was for a 32 bit machine (which I have) and x64 for a 64 bit machine.

Stop laughing at the back there! I won’t bore you much longer, I promise.

Anyway, I installed it and then on entering Firefox with bated breath I found I could, at last, grab the beast by the horns. It has now been successfully removed.

To those at Microsoft who stick pins into effigies of unsatisfied customers, which I’m sure they’ve somehow procured and have locked away in cupboards somewhere (effigies, not customers), I make no apology for any ignorance on my part.